Rai calls twin films tough challenge

Busan, South Korea  Indian superstar Aishwarya Rai says shooting two versions of the same movie simultaneously on a recent set posed the toughest challenge of her career.

Promoting the twin releases “Raavan” and “Raavanan” at South Korea’s Pusan International Film Festival, the actress reflected on the unique experiment in Indian cinema. Attempting to reach out to speakers of both Hindi and Tamil, veteran director Mani Ratnam shot each scene once in each dialect based on the same story of a police officer whose wife is abducted by gangsters.

Adding to the challenge, Ratnam tweaked the cast for the two versions. While Rai appears in both, her husband Abhishek Bachchan skips the Tamil production. Tamil star Chiyaan Vikram takes on different roles in the two movies.